Journalists in State of Emergency – 118

 
 
Journalists who were forcibly taken into custody during a 2016 raid on the head offices of the shuttered Özgür Gündem daily in Istanbul appeared before a court on February 9, 2018 in a trial in which they are charged with resisting arrest and insulting police officers.
 
During the August 2016 raid, which was conducted after a court ordered the closure of the paper, a total of 24 journalists were forcibly taken into custody, among whom there were employees of both Özgür Gündem and other news outlets, who were at the scene because they were covering the raid.
 
The journalists were later released; however, a court case was opened against 22 of the journalists on grounds that they resisted arrest and insulted police officers during the raid.
 
Journalists Gülfem Karataş, Sevdiye Ergürbüz, Fırat Yeşilçınar, Mesut Kaynar, Davut Uçar, Yılmaz Bozkurt, Doğan Güzel, Önder Elaldı, Reyhan Hacıoğlu, Sinan Balık and their lawyers were in attendance at the February 9 hearing of that trial, held at the 5th Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul.
 
Gülfem Karataş, a reporter for the shuttered IMC TV at the time, presented her defense statement at the hearing, in which she eplained that she had gone to the offices of Özgür Gündem to cover the closure of the newspaper. Karataş told the court during that she had been beaten with a metal stick by a police officer during her arrest and that when she had reacted, the same officer had threatened her with sexual assault.
 
Sevdiye Ergürbüz, also presenting her defense statement, said she had been doing voluntary work at the paper at the time, and that she too had been subjected to similar ill-treatment practices during her arrest.
 
The indictment seeks eight years and four months in prison for each of the 22 journalists. Charges brought against the police officers by the journalists on grounds of ill treatment, on the other hand, have been dropped.
 
 
Mezopotamya agency reporter detained for Afrin posts
 
Ahmet Kanbal, an Izmir-based reporter for the Mesopotamia news agency (MA), was taken into custody on February 8, 2018, as part of an investigation launched by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. He was released a day later, on February 9.
 
Kanbal was arrested as he reported to the local police department to give his testimony in a separate investigation on grounds of draft evasion. He was taken into custody on grounds of an arrest warrant issued against him as part of a separate investigation launched by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on charges of conducting “propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
 
Kanbal said the accusations against him concerned his social media posts on the subject of Afrin, the northern Syrian town on which Turkey is currently conducting a military operation. Kanbal said his posts were part of his journalistic activities.
 
 
List of journalists in prison in Turkey
(as of February 9, 2018)
 
1      Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2      Abdullah Kaya, DİHA
3      Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
4      Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
5      Abdulvahap İş (Freelance journalist)
6      Ahmet Altan
7      Ahmet Feyzullah Özyurt
8      Ahmet Memiş, Gazeteci, Haberdar news website
9      Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zaman journalist
10     Ahmet Şık, Cumhuriyet reporter
11     Ahmet Turan Alkan, Zaman
12     Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum)
13     Akın Atalay, Pres. of Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board
14     Alaattin Güner, Cihan media director
15     Ali Ahmet Böken, TRT News coordinator
16     Ali Aşikar – Azadiya Welat
17     Ali Babür Boysal, Zaman page designer
18     Ali Bulaç, former Zaman columnist
19     Ali Sönmez Kayar, ETHA reporter
20     Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
21     Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
22     Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
23     Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
24     Ayhan Demir, Çaldıran News Agency
25     Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
26     Ayşenur Parıldak, Zaman, Haberdar
27     Aytekin Gezici, journalist/writer
28     Aziz İstegün, Diyarbakır Zaman representative
29     Barış Ceyhan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi employee
30     Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
31     Behram Kılıç
32     Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
33     Burak Ekici, Birgün
34     Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
35     Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
36     Ceren Taşkın, Hatay'ın Sesi
37     Cuma Kaya, Zaman
38     Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
39     Cüneyt Seza Özkan, Samanyolu TV
40     Çağdaş Erdoğan, Photojournalist
41     Deniz Yücel, Die Welt
42     Emin Demir, Freelancer
43     Emre Soncan, Zaman defense reporter
44     Ercan Gün, Fox TV
45     Erdal Süsem, Eylül magazine editor
46     Erdal Şen, former Meydan managing editor
47     Erdoğan Alayamut, Dihaber reporter
48     Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
49     Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
50     Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
51     Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
52     Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
53     Fevzi Yazıcı
54     Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
55     Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
56     Gültekin Avcı
57     Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
58     Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
59     Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
60     Hakan Taşdelen
61     Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
62     Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
63     Hamza Günerigök, TRT
64     Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
65     Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
66     Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
67     Havva Cuştan, ETHA reporter
68     Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
69     Haydar Ergül, Demokratik Modernite editor
70     Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
71     Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
72     Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
73     İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
74     İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
75     İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
76     İdris Yılmaz
77     İshak Karakaş, Hakın Nabzı editor in chief
78     İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
79     İsmail Ersan, Anatolia news agency
80     İsminaz Temel, ETHA editor
81     Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
82     Kemal Demir, TV 10
83     Kemal Özer, Evrensel
84     Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
85     Mehmet Ali Ay
86     Mehmet Altan
87     Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
88     Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
89     Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
90     Mehmet Gündem
91     Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
92     Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman columnist
93     Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
94     Mete Cem Bahtiyar, former BirGün reporter
95     Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
96     Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
97     Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
98     Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
99     Muhsin Pilgir, Zaman and Cihan news agency
100    Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
101    Murat Çapan, Nokta
102    Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
103    Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
104    Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
105    Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
106    Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
107    Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
108    Mutlu Özay, Cihan reporter
109    Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
110    Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız (local) Editor-in-Chief
111    Nedim Türfent,DİHA
112    Nizamettin İzgi (Batman Newspaper’s owner)
113    Nuh Gönültaş
114    Nur Ener, Yeni Asya
115    Nuri Durna, TRT
116    Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
117    Nurullah Kaya, G.antep Zaman representative
118    Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
119    Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
120    Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
121    Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
122    Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
123    Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
124    Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
125    Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
126    Sait Gürka Tuzlu, Cihan reporter
127    Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
128    Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
129    Seda Taşkın, Mesopotamia News Agency reporter
130    Semiha Mete, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi reporter and distributor
131    Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
132    Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
133    Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
134    Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
135    Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
136    Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
137    Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
138    Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
139    Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
140    Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
141    Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
142    Turgut Usul, TRT reporter
143    Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
144    Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
145    Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
146    Veli Büyükşahin, TV10 executive
147    Veli Haydar Güleç, TV10 executive
148    Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
149    Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
150    Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
151    Yasir Kaya, Fenerbahçe TV, formerly
152    Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
153    Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
154    Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
155    Zafer Özsoy
156    Zehra Doğan, Jinha
157    Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter
 
For a full list of all the imprisoned journalists in Turkey, visit this spreadsheet. Lists of all of the foundations and associations as well as media outlets shut down can also be found at the same link, although on different tabs of the same spreadsheet.